Job Search
Gerard Butler on the set of Machine Gun Preacher
In my never-ending quest to find a source of gainful employment – or at least income – I recently ran across an unusual opportunity, quite by accident, which proved to be an interesting experience, to say the least. I don’t even remember what led to my finding it. While searching for work online, I ran across a job posting for extras in a movie. The movie being filmed was “Machine Gun Preacher” starring none other than Gerard Butler. “Why not?”, I thought. I certainly wasn’t doing much else and it did offer a paycheck, albeit a temporary one, but still…
I submitted my photo via email and didn’t think much more about it. After all, I’m 53 years old, not exactly in the best of shape anymore. Me? An actress? Riiiiight. Shortly thereafter, though, I was surprised (shocked) to find a reply in my email inbox…..”We are interested…”. To say that I was surprised, even to say that I was shocked, is an understatement. But the idea of being in a major Hollywood film sounded interesting and exciting. “What the heck?” (That phrase has gotten me into more than my share of trouble over the years…but I digress.) Over the next few days, I received wardrobe instructions (extras supply their own wardrobe, following guidelines provided by the wardrobe department), scheduling and location information.
I arrived “on set” (I love that phrase) and spent the next two days pretending to be a member of the congregation of a church, helmed by one Gerard Butler as Sam Childers. Machine Gun Preacher was written about Mr. Childers, who is a real, live person doing really amazing, humanitarian things. (Read more about him, here).
I loved the experience, despite the fact that the hours were long (12 hour days are common), the conditions were less than ideal (the temperature was 90+ and the building in which we were filming was not air conditioned), but I still loved every minute of it. We waited for a bit in an area called “extras holding”, where we were inspected and approved by wardrobe and actually went to “hair and makeup”, where I was very surprised to learn that they really do have mirrors with big light bulbs all around. But, the best part of being an extra is, by far, the food. Expertly prepared food, catered by companies accustomed to serving celebrities and big-time directors. The food was wonderful!
Myself and Sam Childers
After my initial two days “on set”, I was subsequently recalled, about a week later, for one more shoot, during which I got to meet the “real” Sam Childers,who was making a cameo appearance in the film. This impressed me more than meeting Gerard Butler, Kathy Baker and Michelle Monaghan, put together! He is truly an amazing person, for all he does. I urge you to go read Mr. Childers’ story and you’ll know why…
Tomorrow: read about how my first acting gig led to my first modeling gig!
Almost forgot to mention, during my self-imposed exile from writing, I wasn’t just sitting around enjoying the holidays. I have now officially completed two of the four Microsoft Office certifications I’m attempting, courtesy of the state of Michigan’s “No Worker Left Behind” program. I am now known as a “Microsoft Certified Application Specialist”, certified in both MS Word and MS Excel 2007. PowerPoint is next up, which I began studying for just yesterday. I suspect this one will be much easier and faster than Excel, which was a monster. Also continuing work toward A+ and Network+ certifications. Whether any of this will help my unemployment situation is up for debate. Are certifications minus real-world experience really worth anything in today’s hyper-competitive job market? I say it’s doubtful. But what do you think? Leave me a comment! At any rate, it’s something I’ve wanted to accomplish for quite awhile so I am getting a sense of satisfaction from having achieved these certifications. And the oh-so-pretty certificates from Microsoft – signed by none other than Bill Gates, himself – look so nice on my office wall. 
Returning from a very extended holiday writing break. Ok, ok, I know. The holidays have been over for awhile. But if the number of people STILL inexplicably turning on their Christmas lights at the end of January are any indication, the holidays aren’t truly over until February. This is one of my pet peeves. Yes, the Christmas lights all over your house are very pretty. Yes, they were a lot of work to put up, I realize. It might be tempting to burn them just a bit past the holidays, to make the work seem more worthwhile. But, come on, people, the Christmas season ends on New Year’s Day. That’s it. It’s over. You might not want to take them down, since the weather is less than ideal. But, for God’s sake, don’t turn them on, please? But I digress.
At any rate, it’s very hard to “restart” after a self-imposed vacation. Especially when the boss is, well, ME. I can extend my vacation as long as I please without worrying whether I have the vacation time to use. Not a good habit though, I realize, and one I’ll definitely not be repeating. Anyway, as previously stated, it is February. The groundhog apparently saw his shadow this morning so, if you go in for that sort of thing, we can expect six more weeks of winter. Sounds about right, especially in Michigan.
Speaking of the land of unemployment, I just read this morning that the “jobs bill” President Obama called for in his State of the Union address includes yet another unemployment extension. There are some republican rumblings about this “jobs bill” being code for another “stimulus” package. They just don’t want to call it that. Stay tuned.
Reporting on my research into work at home jobs from awhile back: West@Home does, indeed, appear to be a legitimate outfit, albeit a low paying one. They do have work available, especially now with Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day right around the corner. You’ll do phone work, some sales and some customer service, such as the current ProFlowers project, taking orders for the aforementioned holidays. As I said, the pay is low – $7.00-$9.00 per hour and you’ll need to have an actual landline (not DSL/Vonage) in your home and you’ll need to purchase a noise-cancelling headset for your phone. Your computer must meet certain requirements, also and they will run a background check, in addition to a phone interview. If all this sounds good to you, then by all means check them out. http://www.westathome.com Haven’t received anything from the other companies to which I applied.
On writing for Demand Studios/Examiner.com: Took a break from these, also, but am getting back into the swing of things. Demand is a really interesting organization to be a part of and their forums and Facebook page are very lively, so I am enjoying that part of it. I also think they are poised for bigger and better things in the near future so I think it’s a good place to be right now, in terms of my fledgling writing career. That being said, the topics you’ll write about at Demand are less than exciting. “How to Seat a Floor Drain Flange” doesn’t exactly get my creative juices flowing but it pays $15 bucks per article, which can add up pretty quickly, I’ve found. Examiner.com is proving to be a little less satifsying for me, only because there is a complete lack of editorial control and some of the writers aren’t the best at grammar and sentence structure. The exposure provided by the articles I’m writing may be all but overshadowed by the bad reputation I’m gaining by association. They do, however, have a new feature which pushes my articles to Google News if they’re on topic for a particular news story, which could increase the exposure value. Jury’s still out on this one and we’ll see what happens.
Troy, Michigan based Kelly Services, Inc. today released the results of their survey, The Kelly Global Workforce Index, which surveyed about 100,000 people in 34 countries throughout North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific, regarding their views on social responsibility as an incentive to accept employment and tracks differences between respondents, depending on their generation.
The survey showed that, while employees across all age generations and regions tend to prefer companies with well developed social, ethical and environmental policies, baby boomers seem especially likely to be concerned with a company’s social responsibility factor, as a gauge of suitability for employment.
Here are key findings of the survey, from KellyServices.com:
• Almost 90 percent of respondents say they are more likely to work for an organization that is considered ethically and socially responsible, something that is consistent across all age generations.
• 80 percent are more likely to work for an organization that is considered environmentally responsible, a figure that is considerably higher among older age groups.
• In deciding where to work, an organization’s reputation for ethical conduct is considered ‘very important’ by 65 percent of Gen Y, 72 percent of Gen X, and 77 percent of baby boomers.
• 46 percent of Gen Y would be prepared to forego pay or promotion to work for an organization with a good reputation, rising to 48 percent for Gen X and 53 percent for baby boomers.
• In deciding where to work, policies to address global warming are considered ‘very important’ by 31 percent of Gen Y, rising to 35 percent among Gen X and 36 percent for baby boomers.
North America
• 90 percent say they are more likely to want to work for an organization that is considered ethically and socially responsible, the highest of any region of the globe.
• 83 percent say they are more likely to want to work for an organization that is considered environmentally responsible, again the highest of any region.
• In deciding where to work, 35 percent say that policies to address global warming are ‘very important’ and 53 percent say they are ‘somewhat important.’
• In deciding where to work, 82 percent say an employer’s reputation for ethical conduct is ‘very important’ and 17 percent say it is ‘somewhat important.’
• Almost half (49 percent) would be prepared to accept a lower salary or a lesser role to work for a firm with a positive approach to the environment, employees and the community.
Europe
• 86 percent say they are more likely to want to work for an organization that is considered ethically and socially responsible.
• 79 percent say they are more likely to want to work for an organization that is considered environmentally responsible.
• In deciding where to work, 29 percent say that policies to address global warming are ‘very important’, and 57 percent say they are ‘somewhat important.’
• In deciding where to work, 62 percent say an employer’s reputation for ethical conduct is ‘very important’ and 34 percent say it is ‘somewhat important.’
• More than a third (42 percent) would be prepared to accept a lower salary or a lesser role to work for a firm with a positive approach to the environment, employees and the community.
Asia Pacific
• 87 percent say they are more likely to want to work for an organization that is considered ethically and socially responsible.
• 81 percent say they are more likely to want to work for an organization that is considered environmentally responsible.
• In deciding where to work, 39 percent say that policies to address global warming are ‘very important’, a level higher than in either North America or Europe.
• In deciding where to work, 71 percent say an employer’s reputation for ethical conduct is ‘very important’ and 27 percent say it is ‘somewhat important.’
• More than half (56 percent) would be prepared to accept a lower salary or a lesser role to work for a firm with a positive approach to the environment, employees and the community, higher than in both North America and Europe.
This would appear to show that companies will need to be aware of their social footprint in order to attract and retain high quality employees, of any generation, but that baby boomers, in particular, are most concerned with the social responsibility of potential employers.
Many baby boomers find it difficult, if not impossible to find employment in today’s tough job market. One of the reasons for this is that many employers believe mature applicants don’t have any computer skills or are not willing or able to learn new applications. Certifying your skills and furthering your education can be the most rewarding and effective way of combating this stereotype and improving your chances of being hired by an employer.
I, myself, have recently begun to do just that, thanks to Michigan’s “No Worker Left Behind” program. It’s a great program for those who are unemployed or simply making less than $40,000 per year. Under the program, you can receive up to $10,000 for two years to further your education. There are a few stipulations, however. The degree or certificate you’re earning must prepare you for a job in an “emerging industry” or “high growth occupation”. They have a list of such occupations on the NWLB website at http://www.michigan.gov/nwlb
I have been pursuing IT certifications in various computer applications and have recently completed the Microsoft Certified Application Specialist exam in Microsoft Word. I now hold MCAS certification in that application. These certifications will help to certify my skills, so that employers will know exactly how proficient I am. I will be continuing on through the Microsoft Office suite of programs (Excel is next), eventually leading to certification as an all-around MS Office “expert”.
I’ve been doing some research on legitimate work at home opportunities. These seem to have some good reviews around the net. My preliminary research shows they are legitimate work at home opportunities, rather than scams. Disclaimer: Do your own research before signing up for any of these. Some have costs involved, some do not. Some will actually hire you as an employee, some as an independent contractor. I, myself, have applied for some of them and will keep you updated on my progress and results. I present these links for your reference:
http://www.alpineaccess.com/external/careers/become_an_agent.html
http://www.arise.com/Content/work-at-home.asp
http://www.convergysworkathome.com/index.php
http://www.liveops.com/become-agent/index.html
There are others, but these are the ones I found to be the most reputable. I repeat: do your own research. Good Luck!
Very interesting article from CNN Money on creative ways to get a job in a difficult (impossible) economy. Please note that one of the men in the story is 55 years old. I figure if he can do it, so can I. Some of the networking ideas can be duplicated on the web, using sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and others. I especially like the idea of a daily “meeting” where participants trade job hunting and interviewing techniques. This could also help to eliminate the feeling of hopelessness that can kick in when you realize no one is responding to your resumes, a feeling I, myself, have been dealing with for awhile, now.
This site, entitled “Unemployed and Left Out: America’s Workers Deserve Better”, contains loads of great information for those who are unemployed.
Too old to hire, yet, too young to retire, I’ve created this blog, both to chronicle my own journey across the bridge between employability and retirement; and to assist others who may be making the same journey. Finding oneself unemployed at 50 can be a frustrating situation due to difficulty in finding other employment and the daunting challenge of finding a way to sustain one’s finances in the meantime. I’ll search for ways to help us all bridge the gap between employability and retirement, exploring both job resources and entrepreneurship opportunities. If you have ideas or opportunities to share, feel free to drop me a line at jessica@boomersbridge.com !
